Medvedev reveals how the ATP calendar should be
The Russian is getting involved in how tennis should be organized to avoid so much wear and tear on the players.
Daniil Medvedev does not hold back when it comes to expressing his views on controversial topics, and one of the most debated issues in the world of tennis is the ATP calendar. There are numerous complaints from players about its structure and the physical strain and propensity for injuries it causes. How to resolve it? The Russian has a clear opinion.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Daniil Medvedev's words are striking. A player of his experience, a former world number 1 who has participated in an impressive 23 tournaments so far this year, is fully justified in discussing a subject that raises eyebrows in the global tennis scene and in which the ATP is starting to make decisions.
"I advocate placing great importance on the most significant tournaments. I don’t believe tennis is well organized because we are obligated to participate in too many events throughout the year. The norm today is to compete for more than 35 weeks a year," said Daniil, who seems to propose a kind of elite circuit for the best, where players should only compete in Grand Slams and the 10 Masters 1000 that will exist from 2028, when the Saudi Arabian tournament joins the 9 currently in place.
Medvedev believes structural changes must be made to the ATP calendar
It should be noted that 8 of the current 9 Masters 1000 are mandatory for the best players in the world, while a quota of 5 ATP 500 tournaments per year is established to avoid penalties both financially and in the ranking. That is what most wish to eliminate, but the ATP is aware that if it removed that clause, events like those in Basel or Vienna would lose significant appeal and would struggle to attract big stars.
"The biggest problem in tennis is that players have very little power. While it is true that there is a Player Council and we have voting rights, the actual influence we hold when decisions are made is very limited, and at the end of the day, we are the protagonists of all this. We need to have a bigger voice when discussing issues like the calendar, and I will support players who wish to fight for it," asserted the Russian.
The words of Daniil Medvedev reflect a clear discontent with the current situation and a push for comprehensive reform of the ATP calendar in 2028 to be accompanied by measures that exempt players from having to compete so much. It remains to be seen how a topic with many implications evolves.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Medvedev desvela cómo debería ser el calendario ATP